Shanghai Ketaiya Biotechnology

Shanghai Ketaiya Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (Cataya Bio), established in September 2021, is a synthetic biology company focused on the biomanufacturing of high-value chemical and biochemical products. The company was founded by Dr. Lishan Zhao, who serves as CEO, along with a team of experienced professionals from the synthetic biology industry. Dr. Zhao brings over two decades of experience, having previously served as the Vice President of Research and Development at Amyris from 2008 to 2021, where he was instrumental in developing a world-class synthetic biology platform and commercializing over ten products. The founding team's collective experience, totaling more than 40 years, includes veterans from companies like Meihua Group and Evonik, covering areas from strain engineering to commercialization.

Cataya Bio operates by engineering microbes and developing clean fermentation processes to produce high-purity products. The company is building an end-to-end business, from technology development to manufacturing and sales. Its business model revolves around providing natural, green, and sustainable raw materials for a variety of markets, including personal care, food and nutrition, and pharmaceutical ingredients. By leveraging synthetic biology, Cataya aims to offer an alternative to petroleum-based production methods. The company's product pipeline includes high-value molecules such as terpenoids, amino acids and their derivatives, and oligosaccharides. With a research and development center in Shanghai's Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park and operations in Japan and the US, the company is positioned for global reach.

The core of the company's operations is its advanced engineering biology platform, which integrates data science, automation, and high-throughput technologies to accelerate research and development. This platform, referred to as "DBTL" (Design-Build-Test-Learn), covers the entire workflow from strain and enzyme engineering to fermentation, purification, and scaled-up production. In May 2022, the company received a grant from the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Science and Technology to further integrate AI into its platform for intelligent microbial cell factory design. Cataya has successfully attracted significant investment, completing four funding rounds within two years of its inception, including a Series B round of CNY 250 million in September 2023, bringing its total funding to nearly CNY 500 million. Key investors include Eight Roads, Sequoia China, Source Code Capital, and Bits x Bites.

Keywords: synthetic biology, biomanufacturing, microbial engineering, fermentation process, sustainable ingredients, bio-based products, personal care ingredients, food and nutrition additives, pharmaceutical intermediates, terpene synthesis, amino acid derivatives, oligosaccharides, R&D platform, DBTL platform, strain engineering, enzyme engineering, green chemistry, petroleum replacement, high-value molecules, venture capital-backed, Shanghai startup